The instant invention relates to logging equipment and specifically to a connector for connecting a choker or downline to a hauling line.
There are several arrangements of hauling lines which are used in logging yarding operations. One form of yarding arrangement involves a fixed skyline which has a carriage moveable thereon. Drop lines extend downwards from the carriage and terminate with line enders. Connectors are used at the free ends of the drop line to attach choker cables thereto, the choker cables being secured to logs.
Connectors are also used with a cable that is attached to the winch on a Caterpillar.RTM. type vehicle, or to a skidder. The line may be equipped with a line ender or simply have a knot tied in the end thereof. Several connectors may be arranged on a line for connecting to choker cables which are attached to logs.
Known connections have a tendency to stack against one another and eliminate flexibility from the cable to which they are attached. This tendency is referred to herein as nesting or stack-nesting. Additionally, connectors which are constructed to receive a nubbin, which is located on the end of a cable, have a tendency to release the nubbin if the line goes slack. This requires reconnection of the choker cables to the connectors and results in operational delays of the logging process and increased costs.
Connectors which are designed to retain the nubbin generally require intricate manipulation to insert and remove the nubbin and additionally require complex casting and machining during the manufacturing process.
Connectors which do not have any means for retaining nubbins therein tend to scatter in the event of a line break. By the very nature of the environment in which connectors are used, such a scattering generally results in a total loss of the connectors because they become embedded in in underbrush where they cannot easily be found.
Known connectors which are designed to retain a nubbin securely therein do not permit movement of a nubbin in the connector. This results in increased wear on the cables to which the nubbin is attached and reduces the useable life of the cable.
An object of the instant invention is to provide a connector which will not stack or nest on another connector.
Another object of the instant invention is to provide a connector which will retain a choker nubbin while allowing the nubbin to freely move within a nubbin receiving chamber.
Yet another object of the instant invention is to provide a connector which is relatively easy and inexpensive to manufacture and which provides for easy insertion and removal of a nubbin therein.
The connector of the instant invention includes an elongate body having a side wall thereabout, a base at one end thereof and a nubbin-receiving chamber therein. The chamber has an upper, nubbin-insertion region which is sized freely to receive a nubbin therein, and a lower, nubbin-seating region. The chamber has a first opening in the side wall adjacent the upper region which is sized to allow passage of a nubbin therethrough. A second opening is provided in the side wall which is located and connected to the first opening and extends into the base. The second opening is sized to allow passage only of a cable therethrough. A spring-biased nubbin retainer is located at the upper end of the nubbin-insertion region and includes a shaft which extends through and is axially moveable in the upper end of the nubbin-insertion region. A plate is mounted on the end of the shaft in the nubbin-insertion region. The shaft and plate are arranged such that the plate, when fully extended into the insertion region, is spaced apart from a nubbin seated in the seating region. An attachment structure is located at the other end of the body and has a wasted area therein for receiving a line. A formation is located adjacent the other end of the body which has an assymmetry characteristic which prevents adjacent connectors on a line from stack-nesting.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more fully apparent as the description which follows is read in connection with the drawings.